Aboriginal Art

West-Eleven, in association with our partners, Aranda Art, offer some of the most sought-after Aboriginal Art in the capital.

It's fair to say that art experts and private collectors worldwide are becoming more and more excited by the unique cultural significance and contemporary appeal of Australian Aboriginal Art. It has even been described by renowned Australian art critic, Robert Hughes, as being "the world's last great art movement".

Though exhibitions in Asia, the US, Germany, Switzerland and Holland have been well received over recent years, the awareness and recent rise of this movement has so far seemingly flown under the radar in the United Kingdom. This may soon change, with the recent opening of the Jacques Chirac commissioned Musee du quai Branly in Paris. The museum sits at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and is dedicated to indigenous art from throughout the world, with a large portion of its façade and architecture dedicated to Australian Aboriginal artists.

Australian Aboriginal art may also lay claim to being the oldest living art tradition in the world, with paintings in rock shelters dating back 20,000 years. Much of this historic art relates to stories of the ‘Dreamtime’ - the Creation Period in Aboriginal belief, when important Ancestral Beings formed the land and created the people, plants and animals. These Ancestral Beings (often depicted in the art in human, animal, plant or combined forms) are said to have taught the Aboriginal people their laws and ceremonies.

This more traditional artistic medium eventually took on a modern form, when, in 1971, a visiting art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, encouraged senior aboriginal elders to paint their ‘Dreamings’ on canvas, to preserve their traditional stories. These stories had previously been drawn on the desert sand, and were now given a more permanent form. Suddenly, a new art movement was born, soon spreading across Central Australia, and eventually achieving international acclaim.

The most famous of the artists to come from this movement is the late Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, with his legendary Warlugulong painting fetching a staggering AUD$2.4 million at a recent Sotheby’s auction.

Aranda Art lays claim to being one of Australia's leading Aboriginal Art galleries, and one of its agents, Robert Norris, has recently moved to London. Robert, along with Aranda’s founder, Adam Knight, will be holding the gallery's first London exhibition of contemporary aboriginal works - acrylic on canvas paintings - at 5 Blenheim Crescent Gallery, Notting Hill at the end of February.

Some of the artists that will be on show include Ningura Napurrula, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Kuddtji Kngwarreye, Walangkura Napanangka and Gabriella Possum. Now, whilst these names are a mouthful, and may not be immediately familiar to you, they are all internationally established artists, whose works are in increasingly high demand. Ningura Napurrula, in particular, has recently risen in prominence,as one of few Australian Aboriginal artists selected to have their artwork incorporated into the Musee du quai Branly. Ningura’s depiction of her ancestral homeland adorns the ceiling of an entire floor of the museum, forming one of its main attractions.

Robert is quick to point out that all of his artworks are sourced directly from established Aboriginal Art Centres - and in some cases, directly from the artists themselves. This involves visits to remote outback Australian locations, where entry to the land is by invitation only.

"Adam grew up in Central Australia and has long standing relationships with many of these artists, and their families." he says. "He has also set up a charitable foundation, in the gallery’s name, with a percentage of all of our sales being independently distributed to important aboriginal projects.”

Like many art dealers, Robert began as a collector, but was soon hooked. “I’ve been a collector of contemporary aboriginal art for a few years now, and immediately fell in love with its vibrancy, cultural significance and investment potential. The whole movement has only really taken off in the last 10-15 years, so from my viewpoint, and from an Australian standpoint, you could say that it’s comparable to being alive during the French renaissance period. The styles and contrasts of colours are so appealing, that these works wouldn’t look out of place in any other contemporary art collection.”

The paintings range from being quite small in size to rather large, with the biggest work measuring in at 200cm x 200cm.